Newborn Portraits

It’s so fun to watch families grow.. whether you get to see little kids getting bigger — or get to meet new little ones right after they’ve arrived into the world. I have enjoyed documenting this family for a number of years, and watching (now-big-sister) A grow from a newborn into a toddler. And that’s who is the star of the show in these photos… A’s little brother, S!

A little further on I’ll share all the photos from their session, but first, let me explain how newborn portrait sessions are unique. Newborn portrait sessions are a bit different than most portrait sessions… in three ways:

1. Newborn portraits take longer.

Babies are unpredictable. They have no schedule, persay …or if they have one, it changes in the blink of an eye. I block out three hours’ time for each newborn session. While we don’t use all that time for photographing, it does allow baby time to nurse or feed, be diapered, and tended too. If baby is cooperative, we finish with plenty of time to spare; but if baby has different plans, the generous time allotment keeps everyone calm and non-stressed.

2. Scheduling during naptime is ok.

Often, with newborn photos, baby will sleep through most of the session (and the portraits). It’s actually not a big deal, because sleeping baby pictures capture the reality of a baby’s days. Babies sleep a lot. As newborns get bigger and lose that “new baby” look, there will be plenty of opportunity for wide awake (even smiling) pictures. So for newborns, it’s ok to capture that fleeting time where baby sleeps incessantly.

3. It’s best (easier?) to stay indoors.

Newborn sessions are the only type of portraits that I recommend my clients stay indoors — either at the studio, or at baby’s home. Why? Well, when we’re documenting a newborn baby’s first weeks, things are going to be intimate, close up, and focused on the family. There isn’t really a need to incorporate the vast outdoors (in which baby will visually “get lost”). On top of that, it’s just easier when you eliminate variables like the weather and temperature. The studio is nice and warm for newborn portraits, there are comfortable chairs for nursing baby, and a changing table with supplies is at the ready. You don’t have those luxuries when you venture outdoors.

Now, as promised, onto the photographs from Baby S’s newborn session. I love including the whole family in newborn portraits …it is great to see the older siblings dote on their “baby.”

It’s hard to pick a favorite image from this session… babies are so adorable, and I love every aspect of newborn sessions. But I think my favorite picture is the one of big sister A giving baby S a kiss. Sibling love is so adorable!

But then there’s this one. And I love the lines created by the fabric draping down to the floor. Newborn portraits as art. Peaceful. Timeless.

Babies grow so quickly. It’s hard to believe that my second son has almost exited the newborn stage… Newborns are so tiny, so transient. Get those snuggles in!

Baby Ridge has already grown so much since his newborn session in the studio… it’s amazing how quickly these little adorable babies change! I love helping to document these first weeks of life, especially since babies leave the newborn stage so quickly.

Now that the design is finished, I wanted to share this family portrait album with you! Typically I will also design a full color cover for portrait albums, which looks really gorgeous on display. This slideshow only highlights the album pages, so here is a peek at the cover design. Keep in mind, the left side of this image is the back cover, and the front cover is on the right side.

It is always wonderful when I can be a part of welcoming a new family member. Sometimes my clients bring in tiny newborns, and sometimes life is so crazy that I get to meet the babies when they are a couple months old. Either way, I love creating these family portraits because the portraits are a celebration of change and growth — family growth! Here are some portraits from a recent family session. We created a whole range of portraits, including both family groupings and individual newborn-esque portraits. I love sessions like this!

Big brother Nate and big sister Tessa helped me to create some adorable portraits of their new little sister, Mia! We had lots of fun, and the kids were really cooperative. After creating a few portraits of all the kids together, it was time for Mia to hog the spotlight so we did some portraits of just baby girl by herself. I love how these all turned out; it is always great to include family in newborn sessions.

Baby G. and her parents came to the studio for a newborn portrait session. I love including family in these portraits… it always helps to give a sense of size. Newborns don’t seem all that tiny, until you’ve been around comparably giant toddlers! Here are a few highlights from Baby G’s newborn portrait session.

We did Baby A’s 9 month portraits just in time for Easter! Which necessitated the use of a cute Easter bunny… It’s amazing how much she’s grown since the holidays; she’s definitely not a tiny newborn anymore.

Portraits that include a new family member are always extra adorable! Here are a few images from baby Z’s newborn session. I love the one with all three brothers…but my absolute favorite is the one of baby Z. in his daddy’s arms. Enjoy!

Baby A is growing so quickly! It seems like just the other day that we were doing her newborn portraits… and now she’s already over half a year old! Time really flies. A isn’t crawling yet, er, at least not when we did the portrait session… but as you can see, she definitely is getting closer. Sitting up, pushing up, and having great head control!

Baby A. and her parents came in this summer for her newborn portraits! She was such a good baby; aside from not wanting to fall asleep, we had no trouble creating these lovely portraits of the happy new family. This one (below) will look especially nice as a wall portrait on display in their home… believe it or not, the portrait looks even better in black and white!

It will be fun to see how much she grows in the coming months 🙂 …they grow all too quickly, don’t they? Here are some other images from A’s newborn session (I designed a custom album with many of these portraits, which I’m sure the whole family will enjoy!).

Baby G finally arrived… and we finally got her into the studio for her newborn portraits. Since she was a couple weeks old already, Baby G was pretty active! We did manage to lure her halfway to sleeping… and ended up with some wonderful portraits of her awake and asleep. I absolutely *love* this portrait of her in the basket… what a cute smile on baby!

Baby Peanut came to the studio a couple days after she was born… boy was she tiny! Her parents participated in the session too, and we created some adorable family portraits for them to enjoy. Peanut was a joy to have in the studio — she mostly slept, and aside from a feeding break, things were pretty uneventful! Since we did these portraits, Peanut has gained about a third of her original body weight… and is quickly catching up to those “standards” that the doctors love use when measuring kids and babies.

Meet Betsy

My husband and I have two boys, one dog, two cats, and an undetermined number of aquarium fish. We love living in Michigan, it is such a beautiful place to raise a family! Read more about me or contact me at 734-424-0472.

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